I have been wanting to write about the current events going on in this country, but my anxiety has distracted me. Today I feel like I can finally focus, so here I go.

Each of the last few years has felt more chaotic, more tense and more divisive. It feels like most people are angry, often I can’t even understand why or about what. I’ve seen society increasingly become more divided in a us vs. them mentality. It’s rich vs. poor, young vs. old, blue vs. red and if you don’t agree with someone you are wrong, with no discussion or exchange of ideas. Words can be powerful, but not when they are silenced. A lot of this has come from national leadership, that really influenced the us vs. them mindset. My experience in the past when it came to my country was that people have varying ideas and opinions that are based in their beliefs, life experiences, education and political ideology. And those thoughts and opinions were discussed, even with people that had different ideas. Sometimes there would be agreement, but sometimes that agreement was to disagree. Rarely would a discussion end with so much anger, even more rarely with threats. Threats were something that came from outside the country, from our enemies. Now it seems there is not a place for any discussion, any exchange of ideas. That’s sad! I have seen in the past where people of different backgrounds and beliefs could come together and achieve things for the greater good. This didn’t require anyone to change what they thought or believed, it only required them to see a bigger picture.

I hope that with the change in national leadership there will be change in the national conversation. Because there is nothing that says people have to change what they think or believe to be able to live and work together. Instead, all it requires is to accept each other for who they are. And in a country that prides itself for being free that shouldn’t be too much to ask.